PHOENIX — Four days after celebrating Christmas, an Ahwatukee family lost everything they owned in a house fire.
The flames broke out one hour after Joel Smith left for work on Dec. 29, near the Warner Elliot Loop and Equestrian Trail.
“It’s a total loss they said,” Smith said about what the Phoenix Fire Department told him on scene. “They said it was an electrical fire.”
The flames broke out when Smith’s 14-year-old son was at home sleeping. The son noticed something was wrong as he made his way to the restroom and saw his sister’s bedroom was full of smoke. His father said that his son looked inside the room and the back wall was on fire.
The son ran outside the home to safety but remembered their two dogs were still inside the home.
“Bobby said he crawled on the floor because there was no smoke from like here down,” Smith said as he pointed to a wall that had visible smoke and fire damage at the top. “He pulled the whole kennel out and saved the dog, then the fire department found our other dog under the bed.”
By the time Smith and his wife left work and made it back to the house, fire crews were there.
“When I got here the house was still in flames,” Gilma Smith said. “The fire department was still fighting the fire and there was just black smoke everywhere.”
When the fire was finally put out, the devastation was visible inside the home. What the flames didn’t burn entirely, was destroyed by smoke or water.
Among the loss were childhood mementos and Christmas gifts. Even a candy grinch did not escape the smoke.
“All of our stuff, everything is trashed, it’s ruined,” Joel Smith said.
The entire ceiling inside the home was gutted out. Insulation and vents all ended up on the floor that was still wet four days later when 12News stopped by.
“Gods got a bigger plan, I guess. I don’t know,” Joel Smith said. “Devastating how you can just leave in the morning and bam, it’s over, everything, boom, in a matter of seconds.”
The Smith family said they’ve received help from the Ahwatukee community who have donated clothes and toiletries. They are, “very grateful for that.”
The home is owned by Gilma’s father and is insured, but because of the holiday, the process to get things started has been slow, the family said.
They are currently staying at a borrowed motor home. If you’d like to help them, you can donate here to their GoFundMe.
“Everyone is safe and that’s really what’s important, everything we can manage,” Joel Smith said.
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